You open your grid strategy page and see that "Grid Profit" is positive, but "Total P&L" is in the red. This is not a system error. These two numbers calculate different things. Grid profit only counts money made from completed buy-and-sell cycles. Total P&L also includes the floating loss from positions you have not sold yet.
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How Each Number Is Calculated
OKX explains this clearly: Total P&L is your overall profit or loss at any moment. It is the most accurate indicator of strategy performance because it includes both realized and unrealized gains.
Grid Profit: This is the total net profit from all completed grid cycles (buy + sell closed loops). It only counts grids that have fully completed a "buy then sell" cycle. The formula for a single grid profit is: (average sell price - average buy price) × trade quantity - buy fee - sell fee.
Total P&L: This represents the overall gain or loss of your grid strategy at any moment. It is made up of grid profit plus unmatched P&L. It also takes into account other actions such as deposits and withdrawals. The formula is: current total strategy asset value - total capital invested in the strategy.
Why the Two Numbers Can Differ
A common misunderstanding is that a positive grid profit makes you think you have already made money. But total P&L tells you whether you would make or lose money if you sold all your positions right now.
Reason 1: Floating P&L of your positions is not included in grid profit
Grid profit only counts price difference income from completed cycles. The crypto assets you currently hold in the strategy may have an unrealized loss, but this loss is not deducted from grid profit. It is counted in the "unmatched P&L" part of total P&L.
For futures grid, OKX defines unmatched P&L as: total P&L minus grid profit. It mainly includes floating P&L of current positions, funding fees, trading fees, or changes caused by modifying parameters or closing positions.
Reason 2: Fees and funding fees may also be counted in unmatched P&L
OKX notes in futures grid that closing a position does not form a grid arbitrage pair, so the closing fee is counted in unmatched P&L. Also, when the market moves sharply, limit orders may be filled as market orders. The fee is then charged at the taker rate, which is usually higher than the maker rate. The extra fee is also counted in unmatched P&L as a negative value.
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How to Read These Numbers in Practice
You can follow these steps to check the difference between the two P&L numbers and see whether your strategy loss comes from floating position loss or actual trading loss:
Open the OKX app and go to Trading Bots → Grid Strategy. Find your strategy.
Check the values shown for "Total P&L" and "Grid Profit".
If total P&L is negative but grid profit is positive, it means the floating loss of your current positions is larger than the realized grid profit.
Risk reminder: Grid profit can be withdrawn. OKX allows you to withdraw profits generated by grid arbitrage at any time while the strategy is running. You do not need to stop the strategy. But if you withdraw grid profit while total P&L is negative, you are effectively leaving the floating loss inside the strategy. You will then need more future gains to cover that gap. It is better to check total P&L first before deciding whether to withdraw.
What to do next: If total P&L is negative but grid profit is positive, do not rush to withdraw profit. Check the "Current Positions" details of your strategy. Confirm which coin you are holding, what the cost price is, and how far the current market price is from it. If the floating loss is only short-term price movement, you can keep the grid running and let profits grow over time. If you think the market may keep moving in one direction, consider stopping the strategy or adjusting the grid price range.
